Mental stress warning for residents ahead of bushfire season

Tasmanians are being urged to prepare themselves for the emotional stress of the approaching bushfire season.

Audience submitted: Tim Holmes

Victims of Tasmania's January bushfires have been warned they could feel anxious and possibly depressed as this year's bushfire season approaches.

The group Firefoxes was set up by communities involved in Victoria's Black Saturday bushfires and has spend the past three days touring Tasmania's south.

Jemima Richards helped set up the group and says the recent fires in New South Wales would have evoked strong emotions in Tasmania's fire-ravaged communities.

She says Tasmanians need to prepare themselves for the emotional stress of hotter conditions and the approaching bushfire season.

"It will set off their anxiety, it will set off their depression, it will set off the reality of where people are at," she said.

She says the group wants to reach out to people before the season starts.

"So being able to connect with people that have been through what we've been through and validate their experiences, validate that they will feel like this when they see what is happening in New South Wales, and it's normal."